1 day in the mex

phew! i can´t believe its only been one day! i did so much and i really felt i explored mexico city! i wandered round the zolcalo or square a couple of times, got lost in the markets, sought refuge from the noise and heat in the cathedrals, ate all kinds of street food, and then last night, got unexpectedly invited to a penthouse for drinks.
its pretty hot in the sun, and i had to buy some new sunnies, as mine broke in the journey. also need to buy a hat today, not sure if i can pull off the big texan 10 gallons the mexicans wear. or maybe a huge embroidered sombrero.
my bag arrived too! no more wearing the same smelly clothes - i think its been at least 50 hours in the same boxers. i probably should ahve bought somehting. anyway, its all here now. if only i´d taken the advice of the woman in melbourne and carried on everything (minus the scissors).
went and had a drink near garibaldi square while waiting for the mariachi bands to turn up. there are 4-7 piece bands who serenade couples for money. when i turned up at about 8 they were milling around waiting for some lovers (i probably would have given it a shot, but i was arone (so roneree! so roneree! so roneree and roneree arone!)). so i headed off down this dodgy street to a mexican bar where i ordered my beer (un grande sol por favor) and got complementary chip things with spicy dips. i was interested in this bar from teh outset cos the bar lady was absolutely huge and the owner had an awesome moustache. plus they were playing world cup highlights.
anyway, after a while they switched over to mexican soaps and i couldnt understand a thing.
i then wandered, tipsy, back through the dark streets, pulling myself up to look tougher, to plaza garibaldi. there the mariachis were mostly still just milling around, talking to each other, but some were serenading some couples and i had a perve for a bit. twas quite good. also tried some traditional pulque at the pulqueria. kind of like alcoholic milky soy juice with other fruit flavors. quite unappetising.
i found out that the walk back was a haven for pickpockets, so again pulled myself up big and strong and wandered off into the night. picked up some beer on the way then went back and watched a movie at the backpackers.
i got talking to this american guy called nate (who was good looking and had brains to match) who was trying to tune this french girl. i ended up being invited on a romantic stroll around the zocalo with them to a) keep the french girl´s french friend occupied so nate could do his dirty work and b) because i was the aussie with the beer.
we ran into a huge group of students on a study program. we got talking adn they invited us back to their 4 star penthouse balcony overlooking the square and cathedral. yes please.
they ended up being architechture students studying in new york from all over america, central america and spain, who were doing a summer course travelling around mexico. i was talking to one girl who had decided she would do all her courses outside of the university, so she was going to go on exchange to the manhattan univeristy next year, rome in spring and then russia i think, the next summer. alice would have been peeved.
we then walked home (after nate decided he wasnt going to get no croissant), and he tried to convince me to go to guatamala with him the next morning. although i know i said if i met up with people who i got on with i´d try and fit in with their plans to make it work out, but i decided not to becuae a) i dont want to change my plans this early for a guy who calls me meat (i think hes trying to say mate in an aussie way) and b) cos hes quite frankly, in the words of brotown, a dick.
today is museum of anthropology day (it was closed yesterday)
oh, and did i mention i took part in a huge unionist rally too? oh well. another time.
oh, and i got my bag back - i freakin rule!
love to all.